One of the new focuses of the trump administration is to limit the access to food stamps US Citizens currently have. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is a current federal government program to help families in America afford groceries; loaded into an electronic benefits transfer card every month. To be eligible for this program it all depends on household income, expenses and size.
What Trump Administration wants:
Many republicans, including Trump, criticized how much government funding the U.S is giving to the program. “People keep talking about SNAP. But SNAP is supposed to be if you’re down and out,” President Donald Trump said on Fox News. “The number is many times what it should be.” SNAP fraud has cost the government thousands of misused transactions since the most recent reviewing of applicants. Brooke Rollins, the current secretary of agriculture in the United States, said to Fox News, “So far the Trump administration has removed 700,000 people off SNAP and arrested 118 people for fraud.” Rollins has teased a new plan and new requirements to whom can receive the benefits but USDA has not said anything clear or final about the request.
What Will happen:
After the government shutdown Rollins talks about how they will have millions of Americans reapply for food stamps to help prevent fraud. This was a cause and effect factor after the U.S. ran out of funding toward the SNAP program. “There are vulnerable families in America that need this program that aren’t getting it because of the fraud and abuse that now we’re going to work to fix.” Rollins explains, plans for this have not been clear nor has anything final been announced. If Rollins plans are enforced families may be in a sticky situation and having to cut down on meals, or cut down on other expenses to afford to eat the same way they currently do. Less families may soon no longer be able to receive food stamps but there’s plenty we can do within your own community. For one, here in Worthington donating to the Worthington resource pantry, Mid Ohio foodbank collective, but also finding witch churches around you have similar programs.
